One of my earliest holiday memories is my first St. Patrick’s Day in preschool. We had been told to wear to wear green, to avoid being the subject of pinches and other nasty pranks, but needless to say, many of us forgot. So, when we returned to our classroom after our lunch break, we found the walls littered with tiny, green leprechaun footprints.
These days, the green footprints I want to see most are not those left by leprechauns, but by people. With increasing modernization comes increasing waste, pollution, and environmental destruction. Now, more than ever, we need those who can step up to step up and take up the challenge of reducing our waste and impacting the environment for good. Chances are, if you’re reading this, that’s you.
So what can the average Joe (or Jane, or Golden Bear, if you prefer) do now to leave a smaller human footprint and a bigger green footprint?
Let’s take a look at three ways to be environmentally green this St. Patrick’s Day.
- The food waste. Consider the foods you’ll be purchasing to bring to parties or social gatherings. Are they wrapped individually in plastic? Or do they come in a compostable box? If there’s no good (or at least, affordable) purchasing options, consider cooking your own potluck contribution – from sugar cookies to Irish Stew, there’s plenty of great homemade goodies that you can bring to any gathering! What’s more – the sight of anything homemade is sure to bring you extra kudos from your college friends who only wish they can cook.
- The clothes. Oftentimes, the more people invest themselves in flamboyant green costumes, the more waste there will be later as those flimsy green tutus fall apart or become unusable for any other holiday. In the first case – purchase green gear that can last. Additionally, consider the types of material you are buying. Are you trying to purchase clothing made of synthetic materials? Instead, try buying sustainable clothing – made from eco-friendly textiles! In the second case, instead of throwing away clothing, consider selling to one of the many local thrift shops or donate to ReUse. If you keep an eye out, you can also find some nice holiday gear to reuse in these thrift shops.
- The activities. St. Patrick’s Day takes the lucky four-leaf clover as its symbol; finding one is sure to bring some extra luck to keep the pesky leprechauns away. For this reason, many people go the extra step to pluck clovers, oftentimes uprooting other plants in the process. Instead of attacking the clovers, consider helping our school battle the ivy monoculture that has taken over various areas on campus. Or, if you have the space, grow a plant yourself. From indoor decor to providing bits of foodstuffs to providing morale for those midterm-weakened minds, growing plants has many uses outside of cleaning the air that you can use to your advantage.
These ideas are not in the least comprehensive, but they’re definitely a solid place to start if you’re wondering how to green up your St. Patrick’s Day. Together, we can make this fun, green holiday into a fun, green, sustainable holiday as well!
by: Beverly Pan
Excellent post. I’m going through some of these issues as well..
Greetings! Very useful advice within this article!
It’s the little changes which will make the greatest changes.
Many thanks for sharing!
Muchos Gracias for your article.Thanks Again.